Important and Vintage Motorcycles

You have to take only one glance at the TR6, with its lean lines and the handsome parallel twin engine to understand why Triumphs were the best-selling big bikes in the USA during the late 1950s and 1960s - and why the TR6 was the most popular of all. The importance of the TR6 goes further than its sales figures and dollar-earning ability for Triumph. When it was launched in 1956, the off-road-oriented twin was the first 'street scrambler' from a major manufacturer, introducing a style that continues to this day. It was created specifically for export, targeted not simply at the USA but, more precisely, at the hard-core desert-racing scene that schooled in the outskirts of Los Angeles, California. Essentially, the TR6 Trophy was based on the 500cc TR5 Trophy, fitted with the 649cc engine from the T110 Tiger that was introduced two years earlier, in 1954. The T110 itself had been built largely at the request of Triumph's U.S. dealers and their customers, and was a hopped-up version of the Thunderbird model with which Triumph had entered the 650cc market at the start of the decade. The T-bird's lasting popularity led to the new street-scrambler model being nicknamed the 'Trophy-bird'. Predictably, it became another hit for Triumph. The TR6's engine was an updated version of the T110 unit, with an aluminum cylinder head instead of the cast-iron head that had a tendency to overheat under hard use. The Trophy-bird also featured a small fuel tank, short dual-seat and a new waterproof Lucas magneto, plus a quickly detachable headlight.